Your lawn makes up a large portion of your yard's landscaping, and as a result, it can add to or detract from your home's quality, condition and value. With some basic maintenance tasks and practices, you can keep your lawn looking sharp and green to improve your home's appearance. Here are some recommendations to help you mow your lawn in a successful manner.
Maintain Your Mower
The condition of your lawn mower is going to make or break your lawn's appearance and is essential for keeping up your lawn's health. It is important to take time to sharpen the blade on your mower and keep it sharp because otherwise, the blade will shred the tips of your grass and make your lawn's surface look dried and brown. Depending on how much you mow each week and the size of your lawn, you may need to sharpen the blades once or more each season.
Check your mower's oil level and fill it when needed before you use your mower. Then, top off the gasoline before you start your mower so you can fill it before the mower gets hot. Adjust the mower deck to its highest level so you can trim your lawn at a longer length. This will keep a longer lawn with deeper roots to promote healthier growth. And by having a longer lawn that shades the soil better, your lawn's soil will retain moisture better.
Use Specific Mowing Patterns
To keep your lawn trimmed, you don't have to follow the same pattern each time. In fact, the more you vary up your lawn mowing pattern, the better it will help your lawn's condition. If you mow your lawn in the same direction each week, your lawn will start to grow in that direction that the mower pushes the blades. This causes your lawn to grow at a slight angle.
However, if you vary your lawn mowing direction, you will not only improve the health of your lawn by keeping it growing upward, but you will make your lawn look nice with an attractive pattern. Vary the mowing pattern each time you mow and mow, for example, in a circular pattern one week, then the next time mow in a diagonal back-and-forth pattern. You can also mow straight across or in a wavy lined pattern. You can also make a checkerboard pattern by mowing straight across in one direction, then crossing diagonally in the other.